How to ensure your dried florals are food safe for your cake and cupcake decorating
How to Ensure Your Dried Florals Are Food Safe for Your Cake and Cupcake Decorating
Dried florals, with their enchanting beauty and natural allure, have become a beloved choice for cake and cupcake decoration. However, there's a crucial step that often goes unnoticed – ensuring that your dried florals are food safe. In the realm of cake decorating, it's imperative to create a protective barrier between the moisture of the flower and the delicate crumb of the cake or cupcake. Let's delve into the essential steps that make your dried florals both visually stunning and suitable for consumption.
Why Dried Flowers Need to Be Made Food Safe
Dried flowers, while retaining their captivating charm, can introduce a challenge to the cake and cupcake decorating process. The key lies in understanding the need to create a barrier between the moisture held by the dried flower and the delicate, moisture-rich environment of your cake or cupcake. Without this barrier, there's a risk of moisture transfer, which could compromise the integrity of your dessert. To prevent such cross-contamination and maintain the quality of your culinary creations, it's essential to follow the steps that render your dried florals food safe for cake and cupcake decorating.
1. Unveil Your Dried Florals with Care
Upon receiving your dried florals, it's essential to treat them with the love and attention they deserve. The transportation process can sometimes leave them in need of a little tender loving care. Give them a gentle brush to remove any loose particles, especially for varieties like Bunny Tails and Hydrangeas, which are known for shedding.
2. Secure with Parafilm Floral Tape
To make your dried florals food-safe for decorating cakes and cupcakes, consider using Parafilm floral tape. This is NOT your ordinary floral tape that is paper lik
e with a waxy feel to it. This tape is plastic to actually create a waterproof seal! The generic paper floral tape is not food safe! Parafilm floral tape provides an effective protective barrier by wrapping it around the flower stems. It ensures that moisture is sealed within the flowers, reducing the risk of cross-contamination and making your culinary creations safe and visually stunning with the addition of these exquisite dried flowers
Let's also talk about how you store you're parafilm tape! Firstly it needs to be kept cool and out of direct sunlight otherwise it will actual melt and stick together. You should also minimize any foreign particles from getting on the tape by keeping your tape in a zip lock bag.
3. Protect with Stem Seal
When choosing dried florals for your cake or cupcakes, it's important to make them food safe. One method to achieve this is by using stem seal, which you can easily find at Cakers Paradise. By applying stem seal to the flower stems, you create a protective barrier. This barrier locks in moisture, preventing any introduction of moisture that might compromise the safety of the florals for consumption. This ensures that the florals are separated from the edible components, reducing the risk of cross-contamination.
4. Preserve with Beeswax
Ensuring the safety of your dried florals for cake and cupcake decorating is essential for maintaining their natural beauty and adhering to safety standards. Beeswax is an excellent product for this purpose. By covering the flower stems with beeswax, you create a protective seal that locks in moisture. This safeguard prevents any moisture from affecting the florals and maintains their integrity for use in edible decorations.
Don't forget to check out our how to page for some extra handy tips